Ohio State plans for $125 million football facility upgrade, $500 million athletics budget
Ohio State plans for $125 million football facility upgrade, $500 million athletics budget
Ohio State hasn't made significant upgrades to its football facility in two decades. Adam Cairns / Imagn Images via USA Today Network
By Cameron Teague RobinsonJune 25, 2026 Updated 2:28 pm EDTCOLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State plans to spend around $125 million on upgrades to the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, athletic director Ross Bjork said Thursday.
The renovation to the training facility, which is home to the football program, will be the first since $21.5 million upgrades in 2005-07. Bjork said Ohio State has raised enough money or has offers in front of donors to meet a significant portion of that amount. Bjork said Ohio State plans to break ground on its renovations in about 18 months.
Ohio State has been discussing potential changes to the Woody Hayes Athletic Center for years, dating back to former athletic director Gene Smith. The project has been delayed for a variety of reasons, including the constant changes in college sports. The upgrades are still pending final design work, bids and approvals.
“We just have to go, it’s time to go,” Bjork said. “We’ve talked about it, but again we’ve been in this triage mode of adapting to NIL, adapting budgets, we’ve added scholarships to keep 36 sports, we just need to go.”
Ohio State's brutal scheduleBruce Feldman and Ralph D. RussoOhio State is expanding the locker room and training room and building a new weight room, all inside the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, which will stay at its current location at 535 Irving Schottenstein Dr. It will not impact the practice fields in the back or the indoor facility, Bjork said.
The changes will also include upgrades to coach offices and position rooms, as well as a team meeting room that can’t hold the entire team for a meeting right now.
“The individual position rooms are in the same place as the coaches’ offices, so if (offensive line coach) Tyler Bowen needs to have a private meeting and somebody wants to watch film, somebody has to leave,” Bjork said.
The football team will be forced to vacate the facility for over a year while construction is going on, displacing it for a season. The tentative plan is to move the football team into temporary spaces, as well as utilizing the Fawcett Center, which is home to the athletic administration offices.
Bjork said Ohio State will be thoughtful about where it moves the football team because it doesn’t want to just put the team in another building or situation that doesn’t fit.
“We have people in closets now,” Bjork said with a laugh. “We’ve got to get them out of there.”
A $500 million budget?
Ohio State has one of the largest athletic departments in the country, sponsoring 36 varsity sports teams. The school has been adamant that it won’t cut any, which in turn leads to having one of the largest operating budgets in the country.
The Buckeyes set a school record with $336 million in revenue from the fiscal year 2025, after the football team won the national championship. In the same fiscal year, the athletic department had $320,394,965 in operating expenses.
Bjork said he expects Ohio State, which has remained self-sufficient, will be the first school to have a $500 million annual operating budget for its athletic department.
“It’s going to happen,” Bjork said. “It could happen three years from now, two years from now, five years from now, but we will have a $500 million athletic budget at some point in time very soon. We have that capability.”
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When Bjork took over as athletic director in 2024, he came with a strong background in fundraising from his time at Texas A&M and Ole Miss. His focus is on maximizing Ohio State’s brand, he said.
“There’s a lot of data that shows we have 12 million fans,” Bjork said. “If 1 percent of those people would join Buckeye Club, that’s 120,000. Right now we have about 25,000 donors and that’s a great number, but if you think about how we take the size and scale of Ohio State and maximize it, there really is no ceiling for our program from an engagement enterprise, value, revenue and all of those things. That’s what we’re going to focus on is taking vision and turning it into action.
“We have to make sure we’re nationally competitive and make sure we have a financial and sustainable model.”
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Badenoch blasts 'moaning' female Labour MPs over Burnham jobs 'quota'
Kemi Badenoch has told Labour women to earn a job in Andy Burnham's Cabinet instead of demanding they are handed jobs because of their gender.
The Tory leader lashed out today amid reports that female MPs are demanding the de-facto new prime minister introduce a 50:50 gender split 'quota' in his government.
Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister also complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts.
But in a scathing article in the Times today Mrs Badenoch told them to 'stop moaning' and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'.
'There are many, many reasons why you shouldn't have any Milibands in the cabinet,' she said.
'But complaining that the boys haven't given them the right jobs or that the boys are taking all the jobs, just shows that Labour's women still don't get it.'
The idea of quotas was also attacked by Baroness Jacqui Smith, Labour's Skills Minister.
Asked by Times Radio if Mr Burnham should reserve jobs for women, she said: 'No, I think what Andy Burnham should be doing is building the very best team around him to change this country.'
A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs
Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband (above, right, in 2010) is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts
But Mrs Badenoch told them to pipe down and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'
A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party and seen by the BBC has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs after he succeeds Sir Keir Starmer.
'We are asking you to demonstrate this change from day one and address the toxicity and misogyny within our own party and government,' it said.
Labour has never had a female leader, while the Conservatives have had three, and Mrs Badenoch urged the government to follow its meritocratic example.
'If you run a meritocracy, then you do not have to worry about jobs for the boys,' she wrote.
'Every woman who is a Conservative MP, every woman who has ever won the leadership, has had to fight to get where she is.
'By contrast, Labour women are demanding guarantees from Burnham. But the truth is he doesn't have to give any guarantees.
'If none of Labour's women are prepared to get their hands dirty and challenge him for the leadership, their demands are toothless.'
'In fact, it's quite revealing that the women's parliamentary Labour Party has written to Burnham asking him to commit himself to at least 50 per cent female ministers.
'This has nothing to do with meritocracy. It is yet more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country.'
